Vehicle-wheel



next to the vehicle with the live axle and intern e iliFlE.

MOSES E. DARST, F CANTON, OHIO.

VEHICLE-WEEEL.

l To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Moses DARST, a

'citizen of the United States residing at joint so that-the wheel can be turned for Y steering.

Another object is to construeta wheel for the four wheeled drive and four wheeled steering principle in which the ;known.

full float-ing axle is employed'.l j

Another object is to greatly vsimplify the construction and assemblage of this elassof wheels my wheel having but three'operations tor the complete assembling or dis-A assembling.

lVith these objects in view the inventionconsistsin the novel construction and ar' rangement of parts, hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanyingidrawings, and particularly pointedot lin 'the'appended claim, it being 'understood that various changes in ythe form,fproportions, size and minor details of construction may be made within the scope of the appended claim, without departing from the spirit o r sacrificing any of ,the advantages of the invention.

lnthe drawings:

through the center ofmy wheel.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken at right angles to the section shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of one of myy wheels looking` from the sfide axlehousing shown in section.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectlonal view.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail showing a modified form of steering rod connection.

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 6-6 A of Fig. 5.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

The construction whichl have disclosed Specication of Letters Patent.

F lgure lis a vertical sectional view taken Patented Nova, 1919.

. l Application filed April 13, 1918. Serial No. 228,446.

in my drawings is designed primarily 'to give a simple accessiblev construction to a wheel of this type 'and at the same time provide a .wheel of rugged construction adapted for use upon heavy duty trucks, etc. In automobile construction the type of rear axle'known as'the full fioating', viz., the type in which the full weight of the -vehicle 1s carried on the axle housing or dead axle7 the live or rotating axle serving merely to drive the wheel and being assembled in such a marmer that the removal of the exterior hub plates of the wheels permits the live axle to be withdrawn through the wheel without disassembling the differential. ln what is known as the four wheel drive motor vehicle,v the .same type ot axle can be employed forl each .of the four wheels and since the front wheels of the vehicle must be mounted to pivot so that the car can be steered, the rear wheels beingA mounted in the same fashion adds the advantage in steering, of swinging all four wheels thus ,l

enabling the car tro-turn on a much shorter radius.

The dead axle or axle housing shown at 1 in the drawings is tubularin cross sec- Y tion from the differential outwardly to the point 2,', just'inside ythe hub of the road wheels. i From the point 2 outwardly the v'axle housing is flattened on the top and bottom,as shown atl4. The -live or rotating axle' Sisc'onnected by a universal, joint 6 to the hub plate 7 of' the wheel and in ver- 1tical alinement'with the center of the said universalrljoi'ifit, are ball bearings 8 and 9 secured to AthelattenedY upper and lower facesy of lthe axle housing and cooperating with cone'portions 10 formed uponthe inner facel o a hollow spindle 11. Bolts 12 threaded into the hollow spindle 'extend inwardly through the 'center of the ball bearings, asshown in Fig. 1, and fit within apertures in the axle housing. The spindle 11 is frusto-conical as shown in Figs. 1 and 2', thelarger or inner end of the said spindle having formed integral therewith a spherical cover plate 14,1 the are of the sphere being centered at the exact center of the universal joint 6. A slot l5 -is formed in this cover plate 14 and fixed upon the upper and lower inner faces of the said slot are roller bearings shown at16, which bearings contact with the iattened faces of theaxle housing, asshown in Fig. 3.l Roller bearings 17'mounted upon the exterior face of iool I larger end, are designed to carry y the spindle l1 at a point adjacent its enter end, together with a roller bearing 18 mounted upon the spindle at its inner or vlixtefnding rearwardly .from the spherical 4 portion 1i of the spindle is a lug QG to which -isse'cu'red the steering arm 27 attached by suitable means to the steering control upon the vehicle. Operation of the steering wheel of the vehicle will move the rod 27 inwardly1 o1' outwardly thus swinging the spindle and ywheel carried thereon, the said spindle piv* oting on the bolts 1Q, the ball bearings S and Sl permittingthe free movement of the said spindle upon the housing 1, and since the pivotal point of the wheel is the bolts 12, which bolts are located in vertical alineinent with the center of the universal joint 6, the

live axle 5 is permitted to drive the wheel while the saine is moved out of right angle position with regard to the said axle. The

roller bearings 1G previously referred to permit the spindle to inove smoothly over the flattened upper and lower faces of the axle housing, the slot being of suilieiei'it` length to allow the maximum.movement necessai-y without permit-ting the spindle to,

Contact with the said housing.

Extending upwardly from the portion 1l; of the spindle is an integral arin 28 which extends beyond the` peripher. of the inner hub plate Q1-and`has mountec therethrough the brakeoperating rod 29.. Universal o ints are provided in both the rod 27 'of the steering mechanism and the'br-ake operating rod 29 so thatthe said rods do fnot move out of alineinent as thewheel is turned to steer the machine. f

In Figs.` 5 and -6 I have shown another form of steerinof mechanism which may be employed, in' this instance a rigid arm,

shown atBO, being journaled in a bearing 31 upon the axle housing and having keyed thereto a pinion 32 which meshes with rack teeth 34 formed lupon the inner upper 'face of the slot 15. Nith this construction it will be seen that the universal joint in the steering rod can be done away''witli, the rotation backward ant the Wheel 'placed 4over 'ters Patent, is-.

`of the red iup* the spindle to move i i' 'i'.rii upon its pivot.

n assembling my wlieel the spindlel is the axle housing and secured by inserting the bolts 12', the wheel is then placed upon the spindle and secured by means of the nut 20, after which the live axle 5 is inserted tl'irough the open end of the axle housing and the hub plate 7 attached to the said live axle, brought into position and secured by the bolts lt is thus seen that only three operations are necessary to assemble or ltnoclodown my wheel. A portion of the lubrication placed within the differential housing `vill work outwardly through the axle housing in the usual inanne'r in full floating" axle construction, lubricating the universal joint, and passing the outer extremity of t ie axle housing will be thrown outwardly by centrifugal torce when the wheel is rotated, in the nature of a splash lubrication system, a sullicient amount of the lubricant thus thrown outwardly :finding its way ii to the ball bearings 8 and 9. ln assembling the wheel space between the conical portion ot' the spindle 11 and the hub 1 9 wid be filled with ordinary cup grease which wil1 lubrica'te the roller bearings 17 and Especial attention is called tof-the fact that the hollow spindle serves lboth as a spindle and as a wheel cone, the bearings 17 and 18 running upon the said cone spindle being the regular wheel bearings used in .motor vehicle wheels,

LHaving Jfully/'described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let- In a wheel of the character described, an axle housing, a hollow conical spindle pivoted upon said housing, anti-friction bearings coperating between said hollow conical spindle and said housing atthe saidl pivotalpoint, a wheel rotatably carried upon said hollow conical spindle,` a rotatable live axle within said axle housing, the spindle being provided with an elongated slot through which the axle housing extends, a shaft journaled upon the axle housing, a

the A im i pinion carried by said shaft and rack teeth within the slotin the spindle, meshing with said pinion.

In testimony that I claim the above, have hereunto subscribed my name.

MOSES E; DARST. 

